Five Reasons You Need to Visit Tuscany
Maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe there’s really no need to explain why you should visit Tuscany. After all, I’d guess that Italy in general – and Tuscany in particular – are at or near the top of most travel bucket-lists. But just in case you need a little push ….
1 : The Light
This place is a photographer’s dream. There’s an interplay between light, color, clouds and sky that’s uniquely Tuscan.
I remember as if it were yesterday the first time I woke to the magic of a sunrise in Chianti – a panoply of color spread out over a seemingly endless horizon dotted with vineyards, olive groves and small towns.
I never tire of the way the midday sun reflects off ancient stone houses, terracotta rooftops and pastel colored villas. I never tire of the peaceful sunsets, a glass of wine in hand and thoughts of another slow, languid day behind me.
And the stars … those cloudless, crystal-clear night skies filled with stars so vivid they seem surreal …
2 : The Landscape
Whether I’m in Val D’Orcia (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) with its vast open expanses of indescribable natural beauty, in the heart of the Chianti Classico wine appellation where rolling hills filled with vines and olive trees stretch out like ocean waves within arm’s reach, or on the coast of the Maremma along an expanse of unspoiled beach, I am always struck by the diversity of the Tuscan landscape.
One minute, we’re in the midst of wine country with vineyards laid out before us as far as the eye can see. The next --- literally 15-20 minutes of driving – we’re surrounded by the Crete Senesi, a moonscape-on-earth impossible to describe -- dream-like in its haunting beauty.
When I stop to consider that the entirety of Italy is roughly the size of Arizona, and that Tuscany is one of 20 Italian regions, it sinks in that this slice of Italy is blessed with a diversity of natural beauty that few places can match.
3 : The Hill Towns
“We’re planning to be in Florence, Pisa and Siena before we head to Rome”, our many friends who visit from the US often tell us. It’s understandable. These Tuscan cities are beautiful. They’re important places. And each is unique in its own way. They’re filled with history, art and must-see cultural icons.
But there’s so much more to Tuscany. I always recommend some city-time and --- something that precious few American tourists make time for --- some time in the countryside. The Tuscan countryside is filled with charming hill towns, each with a particular identity and sense of place. Radda-in-Chianti, Gaiole-in-Chianti and Volpaia in the heart of Chianti; small “borgos” like Vertine and Barbischio further off the Chianti-beaten-path; classic towns such as Pienza and Montechiello in Val D’Orcia and Monteriggioni just north of Siena. These towns speak to the essence of what it is to be Tuscan. You see and sense it in the faces of the locals. You feel the pride they take in their home towns; the reverence they have for their land, and the sense of community that’s shared in each piazza.
Find a bed & breakfast in or near of one of these places and, if even for a few short days, be a local. Take your morning espresso or cappuccino at the local bar. Eat your meals with the locals in a simple trattoria. And come away with a sense of what the Tuscan countryside is really all about.
4 : The Food
Every year in late October, Cyndy and I --- assisted by a loyal group of local friends --- harvest our fifty olive trees. Within a couple of days, our efforts are rewarded with a flow of “olio nuovo” (new oil) so green it doesn’t seem real. Unfiltered and free from any kind of industrial processing, this early-harvest olive oil has a distinct peppery bite and pleasant pungency. Olive oil like this rarely reaches the U.S.
Within hours of the oil’s pressing, we’re gathered with local friends for the season’s first “bruschette” – grilled slices of hearty Tuscan bread drowned in copious amounts of new oil and sprinkled with sea salt. It’s Tuscan simplicity as its best.
This generations-old food ritual – something that Tuscans anticipate each year with palpable excitement – is just one example of how food brings people together here. It’s not just the quality of Tuscan cooking and ingredients – which is extraordinarily high – that draws me to this food. It’s the importance that people from all walks of life place on eating well and spending time at the table with friends and family.
Come for spring peas, asparagus, artichokes and baby lamb in the spring; tomatoes, eggplant, green beans, fennel and a mixed Tuscan grill in the summer; new oil, root vegetables, hearty soups and braises in the fall; roasted meats, handmade pastas and game in the winter. These flavors will change the way you think about food, the way you shop and how you prepare everyday meals.
5 : The Wine
Back in 1985, I was having lunch with a friend at a popular – and very authentic – Italian restaurant in Washington, DC. The Italian chef/owner – who was a friend of my friend – was seated at a nearby table with a wine importer. There were dozens of glasses in front of them and several open bottles.
The chef/owner approached our table with two glasses. “You must try this wine,” he said.
That was a defining moment in my early years of wine exploration and appreciation. The wine – a 1982-vintage Tignanello from the Antinori family (one of the first and most iconic “Super Tuscans”) was a revelation for me. I had – like many other American wine enthusiasts – begun my wine “journey” in California. Cabernet, merlot, chardonnay – they were approachable and easy to understand. Chianti? What was that? Brunello? Sounded like someone’s last name. Super Tuscan? Sounded cool, but what did it mean?
That glass of Tignanello convinced me it was worthwhile to find out. I forged ahead into the world of Italian wine and never looked back.
At a Tuscan table, wine is an everyday integral part of any meal --- not a mere alcoholic beverage or, worse yet, a status symbol. Tuscan wines speak of the places they come from, not the chemical manipulation used to produce them. It’s that elusive concept of “terroir”.
Come here to discover new wine sensations. Come here to experience the importance that “place” has in the tradition of Tuscan winemaking.
So … whether your passion is food, wine, photography, history, art or travel-for-travel’s sake, Tuscany should be on your travel hit-list. I’d be happy to show you the way ….
–
John Bersani is Founder/CEO of Avventura Trips
www.avventuratrips.com
@avventuratrips on Instagram
john@avventuratrips.com